What a start!

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the lifelong memories of Glasgow 2014 would start on the train!

Meet the Boxing Team from Nauru.
3 athletes, 1 coach and 1 manager.

If you look for Nauru on a map you will see a dot to the north west of Australia.
It is positioned just 20 miles from the Equator.

The island is just 8 square miles and has a population of just 9500.
Our village has a higher population but no Commonwealth Athletes!

The entire Nauru team consists of 10 athletes. Per head of population this must surely be one of the largest teams.

These guys have been training at Windermere for the last 3 weeks and they loved it there.

It was very interesting chatting with them about the landscape. They couldn't get over how green the countryside is and we're especially interested when I pointed out trees that stay green even in the winter. Things we just take for granted.

They did not like the wind turbines, believing they spoiled our beautiful landscape.
They especially did not like the rents being offered to landowners for siting a turbine.
With an average salary in Nauru of £5000 per year, the thought of someone getting £30000 to £60000 rent per annum did not go down well.

The National Boxing Gym in Nauru is an asbestos-clad building. The rent from a wind turbine would probably build them a new one.

We had a really good conversation about how the athletes get the most out of the experience of a new country, different cultures, pace of life, while trying to focus on the reason they have travelled half way round the world - to win medals.
When I spoke of my student, Dan, who would not let anything get in his way to achieve the highest grades after a long time in hospital, the coach said he would use the example to keep his athletes focused.
We agreed it is very difficult to prepare for the atmosphere. I couldn't properly prepare them for the size of Glasgow or the number of people they will see.
Hopefully 3 weeks in The Lake District has helped them to acclimatise to the size of Britain.

I shall be looking out for the Boxing results and if there is a medal for Nauru you are likely to hear my cheers from Glasgow.